We continue to update the position battles around the league, but in this blog, I thought looking at preseason playing time would be interesting. The depth chart doesn’t always tell the whole story and it’s certainly worth noting when players get in the game and who they get to play with, whether it’s with the first-team offense or the backups. If you’re looking for game reviews with stats, check out those our here. Let’s take a look at how the battles went in the first week of preseason action.

Over the last week, we posted a poll asking you which RB sleeper candidate was at the top of your targets list. The results varied throughout the week and Falcon rookie RB Devonta Freeman led most of the way, but things certainly changed after a full week of preseason games:

As you can see, the final results put 49er rookie RB Carlos Hyde at top when it was all said and done with Freeman trailing by a significant margin, although he was still way ahead of Brown rookie RB Terrance West and Seahawk second-year RB Christine Michael. Was this an overreaction to one preseason game? Are there concerns about Freeman’s pass protection? Did the end of Marshawn Lynch‘s quick holdout sour some on Michael? Let’s take a look at each player’s projections (as of 8/12), what they did in the first preseason game, and news that has come out during training camp.

Carlos Hyde, SF (120 carries, 565 rush yards, 6 rush TDs, 16 receptions, 95 rec yards) – With Frank Gore sitting out, Hyde got the start in the 49ers’ first preseason game and was impressive, rushing five times for 39 yards against the Ravens. He quickly showed that he’s more than a between-the-tackles runner, as he [...]

On somewhat of a whim, I decided to do some mocking on Wednesday night, but instead of trying to compare ADP numbers and working out the best spots to pick from, my idea was to run an auction. We ended up getting a 12-team PPR mock auction with a $200 cap done in a few hours, although with the informal atmosphere, a handful of teams ended up going on autodraft towards the end, which ruined some values and prevented some from getting their starters before these autodrafted teams started bidding for backups. That’s while I’ll be focusing on the roster I put together and explain my thought process as best as possible throughout the auction. Other than calling it a PPR, no real lineup requirements were discussed, once again, because of the informal process of gathering everyone to participate.

We spent some time watching 2012 game tape on some of the more intriguing fantasy players for the upcoming season. The players we chose to watch weren’t necessarily marquee fantasy players in 2012, but they could be key players this upcoming season. We tried to pinpoint some of the strengths and weaknesses of each player by watching a couple games. We decided to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw with our raw notes.

These are raw notes, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive or definitive takes. We simply thought it’d be another way to gain some extra insight into some of the more intriguing 2013 fantasy players. We watched 36 players total, so we’ll post notes on 4 players a day over the next two weeks. Here are the players we watched and when our notes will be posted:

With the draft still more than a month away and the biggest names in free agency finding homes, we are in a little bit of a lull when it comes to news. However, John Hansen attended the combine and Adam Caplan spent time at the owners’ meetings looking to pick up any information from coaches, executives, and other team officials. What we have here are some of the nuggets from the coaches that spoke last week in Arizona.

Bruce Arians, Cardinals

-Believes addition of Rashard Mendenhall helps because of their history. Mendenhall doesn’t need to come out of the game.

-Prefers to use one RB instead of committee

-Wants to name starting QB ASAP, possibly by end of spring. Comfortable with Drew Stanton because he knows the system already and has some athleticism.

-Outside of Levi Brown at LT, there will be competition on the OL.

-Wants flexibility at TE because he doesn’t like to use a FB. Rob Housler praised for being an excellent receiver, just scratching the surface.

Tom Coughlin, Giants

-Excited about Brandon Myers’ catch total from 2012. Believe he’s well rounded and can help with ground game.

Jason Garrett, Cowboys

-Need more than one RB. Need to run it better. Need to balance offense and healthy [...]

Each year, we publish an article about Overvalues & Players to Avoid, but make a point to say that at the right value, anyone is worth drafting. While I agree with that philosophy for the most part, there is always a group of players I want nothing to do with due to injury history, continuing off-the-field issues, too much competition at the position, or a coach who doesn’t care about your fantasy team (looking at you, Mike Shanahan). With training camp underway and mock drafts happening much more often, I figured I’d share my 2012 list with you. You’ll probably have some disagreements, which is understandable since some of these are based on gut feeling. I asked some of you on Twitter about players on your list and will include them below.

There's too much going against Ahmad Bradshaw to draft him with confidence this year.

Ahmad Bradshaw – Bradshaw has been one of my favorite players to watch since making a name for himself as part of the Earth, Wind, and Fire backfield for the 2007 Giants. After Derrick Ward departed, Bradshaw got a much-deserved increased role in the offense. I’ve given him plenty of credit for being a [...]

With this being championship week, I will not be focusing on the obvious players since they are going to be in your lineup no matter what. Instead, I will be taking a quick look at each game with more emphasis on players you’ll be making decisions on this week.

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots

The fantasy QB situation has been a steady rotation of matchup plays when it comes to low-end starters. That’s why someone like Matt Moore looks like a solid start this week with a great matchup against the terrible Patriot defense. I can personally say that I picked up Moore to backup Ben Roethlisberger a few weeks ago and will be starting him with confidence for the second straight week with my season on the line. Aaron Hernandez had one of his best games of the season against the Broncos last week and feels like another good start this week. I realize he’s not going off like teammate Rob Gronkowski, but he’s still one of the better players at the position in the league and probably in the next group after the weekly starters.

It is playoff time in the world of fantasy football, so if you are still making meaningful lineup decisions, I salute you for getting this far. As we have been saying, this is no time to be a hero, so a running theme in this week’s blog will be my comfort level with players. Let’s get into this week’s games.

Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers are looking more and more like too risky of a team to trust when it comes to fantasy, especially when they get blown out by the hapless Jaguars. It’s tough to play LeGarrette Blount or Mike Williams with any confidence this week. I could easily see Blount disappearing if the Buccaneers fall behind and Williams’ success hinges on Josh Freeman. We can only hope he’s a little healthier this week. Felix Jones certainly became relevant in a hurry and would appear to be a good start, although I’m not expecting him to get a ton of carries all of a sudden. Remember, he’s had some issues carrying the load in the past and has 18 carries just once in his entire career. He should catch a few passes in this game though, so [...]

If you are still alive, congratulations. With just a few weeks remaining in the fantasy football season, now is not the time to be a hero. Being safe is not a bad thing and there are plenty of good matchups that should allow you to do just that this week.

Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens

Ray Rice and the Ravens ran all over the Browns last week and could do much of the same this week. We know the Colt defense is vulnerable on the ground and through the air, but I don’t expect to see Joe Flacco throwing very much when he can hand the ball off to one of the best RBs in the game. When the Ravens do throw it, Torrey Smith could be getting some looks downfield, which makes him an intriguing option as a flex play this week. Dan Orlovsky might have been the captain of the garbage-time production offense last week against the Patriots, but I doubt he and the Colts get that kind of production against a much better Raven defense in Baltimore on Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers

The Falcon run defense may be one of the best in the league, but they had [...]

With the playoff fantasy season upon us, this is no time to get cute with lineup decisions. You should not feel the need to shake things up just for the hell of it and I implore you not to try to be a hero. Here are my thoughts on Week Thirteen.

Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills

Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bill offense came back to life last week against the Jets of all teams. Lost in Stevie Johnson’s controversial TD celebration was one of the best performances we’ve ever seen against Darrelle Revis. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much from C.J. Spiller, although that really should be that surprising considering how little Spiller had been used before Fred Jackson landed on the IR. Speaking of coming back to life, Chris Johnson emerged from the fantasy graveyard yet again last week with a huge performance against the weak Buccaneer run defense. Johnson could be in for another product game this week with the Bills struggling to stop the run and both Johnson and the Titans seem to understand that Johnson needs a high volume of carries to get going and he should get that in this game.

Here are the top stories I’m following for Week 17 Cleveland (7-8) at Baltimore (9-6) Brown QB situation. Brian Hoyer (right shoulder/biceps) did not practice Friday. Rookie Connor Shaw is set to start for them at Baltimore. Do they give Terrance West any snaps to evaluate him? He played 0 snaps last week. Does Josh Gordon do anything to leave us something t […]

Here are the top stories that I will be following in Week 16 for fantasy. Philadelphia (9-5) at Washington (3-11) Robert Griffin III did play better last week, but does it mean anything? It’s hard to trust him even against a beatable secondary and a defense that lost a top pass rusher in Trent Cole. If you’re playing in Week 17, can you trust DeSean Jackson, […]

Here are the top stories I’ll be following in Week 15 with some insight on some of them. Pittsburgh (8-5) at Atlanta (5-8) Will Julio Jones play? It’s obviously a huge key for Matt Ryan’s ability to hang with the Steelers in a high-scoring game. Without Jones, they have no explosiveness in the passing game and Ryan will have to dink-and-dunk to Roddy White a […]